Panel: The Inside Scoop

he story of Golde begins with love. If you she says. “She was was ahead of her time, being all-organic can believe it, 28-year-old Trinity Mouzon and focusing on nonprocessed foods. One of my earliest Wofford and her same-aged fiancé, vocabulary words was ‘partially hydrogenated fats,’ so I’ve Issey Kobori, met for the first time in a been [reading] labels on packages for most of my life.” Saratoga Springs preschool. Of course, The future couple wound up at separate high schools— this was almost a quarter century before Wofford at Saratoga, Kobori at Schuylerville—and didn’t the would-be engaged couple would formally meet again until their senior year. That happened at cofound wellness and beauty brand New Visions, a one-year, quasi-pre-pre-med program for high Golde, which in a little over three years, has transformed schoolers who hope to someday break into the medical field them into Millennial superstar entrepreneurs, landing them (they both wanted to be doctors). Upon graduation, Wofford on Forbes’ coveted “30 Under 30” list and eventually getting went off to New York University (NYU), while Kobori attended their products on the shelves of Target. Union College. But he quickly became restless being so

While the couple technically launched their business in close to home and transferred to NYU. “Trinity actually Brooklyn, where both lived for years before recently returning didn’t want me to come there,” he says, half-jokingly. “She home, their success story is indelibly connected to Saratoga— was having a great time, but it was either that or Columbia, and puts a big red checkmark next to and I liked downtown more.” Though two of the city’s unofficial buzzwords: they were initially worried they might “history” and “health.” Both Wofford turn into that couple—you know, the and Kobori grew up here; Kobori, who one that follows each other around was born in Japan, landed here when everywhere like puppy dogs—in he was two and his family settled on the end, it was the right decision. the west side, while Wofford, born in Florida and here since she was two as well, lived mainly on the east side. Even as toddlers, the two had a lot in common: For starters, they both New York City was the perfect fit. a nd the City is where they stayed, post-graduation, living together in a onegrew up in artsy households that bedroom apartment in Brooklyn’s emphasized healthy living and eating. trendy Williamsburg neighborhood and Kobori’s dad worked at Four Seasons’ picking up their first day jobs, Wofford longtime Phila Street location (#RIP), in internet marketing, Kobori at an while the Woffords, both musicians— artisanal tableware company and then her mom, a singer-songwriter, her dad, at a menswear startup he launched. a bassist and former member of jazz fusion group Spyro Gyra—frequented young love Trinity Mouzon Wofford (third row, far right) and Issey Kobori (second row, But nothing sustains a budding entrepreneur’s motivation quite like the health food shop, becoming second from left) first met in preschool. personally experiencing a need you regulars there. Later on, Wofford’s think you can meet. Wofford’s mom mom and aunt even opened their own natural goods store, was suffering from an autoimmune disorder called rheumatoid Eco Verde, on Broadway. While Kobori spent his childhood arthritis, which causes excruciating joint pain. After regularly on Division Street—his parents later relocated to a sprawling seeing a holistic physician, she saw great improvement, but property nestled in the countryside of the Stillwater area— the staggering costs were simply unaffordable. And a light Wofford says some of her fondest memories are from living bulb went off for Wofford and Kobori: They would create a in one of Saratoga’s most historic, iconic houses. “A significant wellness brand that anyone could have access to and afford. amount of my childhood was spent at 1 York Street, which is Golde was launched in 2017, their first product a latte blend now the Mouzon House,” says Wofford. “My great-grandmother made with turmeric, a type of superfood her mom had been purchased it in 1919, and she lived there until her death. My using to curb her inflammation and that is also known to have grandparents then lived there, and my mom and I lived there skin rejuvenation and pro–gut health qualities. “I was really for a time, so that was a really special place for me.” Speaking thinking about this place of accessibility within the wellness of her late grandmother, Mia Mouzon—hence Trinity’s middle space,” says Wofford of her tonic, which retails for only $26 name—she was an I-am-woman-hear-me-roar pioneer herself; for a 30-day supply. “That’s really critical. I was looking at the in 1947, she became the first woman of color to graduate from wellness space and feeling that it was speaking to a narrow Skidmore College, and was a true inspiration to Wofford, perspective, especially given that so many of these incredible especially when it came to cofounding her business. “She superfoods were coming from cultures outside of the west, imparted a lot of wisdom to me about health and wellness," and there’s really not a whole lot of awareness. As a business

ISSEY KOBORI ISSEY KOBORI